Joined: 16 August 2005Location: United States
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Posted: 21 February 2007 at 8:56am | IP Logged

Fish with scales (Carp, Salmon, etc.) or without (eels, catfish, etc.)? Cold water fish can be a little tricky because the collagen is a little different and thus more sensitive to heat and chemcials, but in general fish are about as easy to tan as tanning gets. Oddly, you must "unhair" them to get it right. That outer layer of the skin (keratin) must got whether it is actually hair or not. Perhaps "must go" is a bit over stated, but you get the idea.

The best book is the UN paperback on Chemistry and Technology of Novelty Skins, but it is out of print and has been for years. Several journal articles have been published on fishskin tannages. Of course eelskin, frogskin and similar scaleless fishskin leathers have been commercial for many years.

The skins can be delicate, but because they are thin and low in fat, they are a breeze to tan.

Soaking, liming and tanning for fish skins is made, more or less, in the same way you do for another skins. The biggest difference is in the liming where you can not use lime and sodium carbonate is normally used to supply a bit alkalinity but, as Waldo says, they should be handled very carefully and many process should be performed by hand or with small machinery.

Joined: 21 August 2005Location: United States
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Posted: 21 February 2007 at 1:21pm | IP Logged

At one point in the research for my book Faux Real, I talked with a fellow, Jim Bates, of an outfit called "Upscale Leather," 508-476-2501, who works with leather tanned from wolffish, salmon, and cod. I don't believe Mr. Bates knows much about tanning himself, but apparently gets the leather from Iceland, then has it made up into novelty items. This information is as of February 2005.

Joined: 16 August 2005Location: United States
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Posted: 22 February 2007 at 6:29am | IP Logged

Each of the world leather magazines has carried major articles on fish leather in the past. Pulling up these references in World Leather and Leather the International Journal could be a good starting place for someone looking for more contacts and references.

some fish oil need not unhair , on the contrary side, need protecting the squama ! thhus the most important part is soaking and bating for open the fiber for better tannage fixation and high Ts of the tanned leather !

So, by May we can get your book? I am eager to reat it, I really would like to buy an autographed copy by you, you will have to tell me how to procced, please. Or would I have to wait until you have a presentation here, "south the border, down Mexico way" as the song goes. Congratulations.

Fish tanning is something that I have never done, I prefer them fried with garlic, "al mojo de ajo", like we say.

But on a serious note we have to consider that fish collagen has a lower hydroxiproline to stabilize it, thus is more delicate in swelling.

The use of the substance of the chrome tanner to stingray evidently not easy like use to livestock skin.Stingray tended solider and the fibre composition of mutual overlaps resembled the cane work, hindered penetration of the tanner's substance in this skin.So as therefore, time that was used to achieve the maturity of skin tanning was longer.To help penetration of the substance of the chrome tanner in stingray was used the drum of the proceeding process for 15 hours with the speed 12 rpm-15rpm.Possibly by this I chose to give the suggestion so that tanning is carried out with formalin.

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